Connector



S. P. BECKER May 10, 1949.

CONNECTOR Filed July 28, 1945 INVENTOR lsze a zen P .Beckez' Patented May 10, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONNECTOR Stephen P. Becker, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.

Application July 28, 1945, Serial No. 607,518

1 Claim. 1 My invention constitutes an improvement in devices for connecting wires and cables used for conducting electrical energy, particularly those of the so-called vise type clamp.

The object of my invention is the provision of a connector that will have a higher electrical conductivity, will largely eliminate the distortion of the wires or cables connected thereby and one in which the several parts will at all times, during transportation, installation and removal, be connected in a single unitary structure, with no loose pieces that might be displaced or dropped. A further object is to provide a connector in which the structural elements that clamp the conductors are of secondary importance in the conduction of current and therefore may be made of material selected for its strength regardless of its electrical conductivity.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate embodiments of my invention:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a complete conhector,

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the center line of the connector, on line 22 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line 33 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 shows an alternative shape for the grooves in the clamping members,

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings:

I and 2 are respectively the body and movable jaw, similar to those of the well known vise type connector, samples of which are shown in applicants issued Patents Nos. 1,932,009 and 1,932,010 of October 24, 1933, and 1,950,771 of March 13, 1934. 3 is a screw that passes through a washer 4, a clearance hole 5 in the body I and a threaded hole 6 in the movable jaw 2 and, when turned in the proper direction, forcibly draws the jaw toward the body. As shown in Fig. 3, the body has a set of guides consisting of interiorly arranged longitudinal projections I which coact with grooves 8 in the jaw to guide it in its movement toward and away from the body. The length of these coacting projections and grooves is made as great as possible to reduce binding due to eccentric forces to a minimum.

Because, in use, all of the aforementioned members are subjected to high tension and bending stresses, they must be made of high strength metals all at present known examples of which are of low electrica1 conductivity.

The body I has on each of its outer sides a longitudinally extending projection 9 comprising a second set of guides, around which fit hooks I0 formed on a separator head II located be- 2 tween the head I2 of the body I and the head I 3 of the jaw member 2.

As clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, both of the heads I2 and I3 are located at the same side of the axis of the longitudinally guided U-shaped body and movable jaw members.

Each side of the separator II and the inner side of each of the heads I2 and I3 has a groove M which may be an arc of a circle, as shown in Figs. 1 to 3, a. V groove with both sides at an angle of 45 with a plane parallel with the tops of the guiding projections 9 as shown in Fig. 4, or of any other preferred shape.

Because the stresses in the separator II are almost entirely compression, it may be made of low tension strength materials, such as high purity copper, or aluminum, which have very high electrical conductivity.

As shown at I5I5 in Fig. 5, the ends of the grooves may be bell mouthed to avoid sharp bends or knicking of wires held by the connector and thus avoid weakening of the wires or cables held by them.

The screw 3 and the guiding portions of the body I and the jaw 2 are of such length that, without disconnecting them, the heads I2 and I3 can be separated to a distance that will permit the insertion of the largest wires on which the connector is usable, through the spaces between the tops of the jaws and the separator I I.

When being installed to connect two cables or wires, the screw 3-is backed ofi till the members are sufficiently separated and one of the two wires placed at each side of the separator II and in the grooves I4. The screw is then tightened till both wires are securely held. The separator II, being soft, will be slightly deformed and will thus have a large area in contact with the conductors. If the conductor is a stranded cable, each individual wire will form its own groove of substantial width and thus provide a large area of contact with the separator. The separator, being of high conductivity and large cross section at right angles to the mean direction of flow of current will ofier such slight resistance that the conductivity of the joint will usually be much higher than that of an equal length of continuous wire or cable and, with the large radiation area of the connector, will usually be appreciably cooler than the adjacent cable or wire.

With the long guides and the long screw always holding the parts together, even when opened for insertion of the conductors to be joined, there is no probability of any parts being dro ped. Because the screw is always engaged with the jaw, there is no time lost in starting a nut, which, particularly at arm's length at the top of a pole, may be quite difiicult.

Having described my invention and the manner in which it is used, that which I claim to be new and wish to protect by Letters Patent is:

In a connector for wires, the combination of an elongated body member principally U-shaped in cross section, at least two pairs of longitudinally disposed laterally extending guide projections, a jaw member having a pair of grooves complementary to one of the pairs of guide means for limiting the jaw member to movement on the body member, with the jaw member telescoping with the body member, a head member supported on the body member and a head member supported on the jaw member in complementary opposition to one another at distant ends of the associated supporting members, both of said heads being on the same side of the longitudinal axis of the telescoping members, a groove in the face of each member arranged transversely to said longitudinal axis and in complimentary opposition to one another, a screw arranged along the longitudinal axis of the members having a head portion in contact with one member and a body portion in threaded engagement with the other member to move the members relative to one another and a separator head located transversely to the axis and in complimentary relation between the other two heads, said separator head having hooked side extremities fitted to cooperate in complementary manner with the other pair of guide projections on the body member.

STEPHEN P. BECKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 812,287 Nagel Feb. 13, 1906 1,932,009 Becker Oct. 24, 1933 2,210,750 Cook et a1 Aug. 6, 1940 

